Celebrity to offer high-end cruise tours

Posted on 26 August, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

Celebrity Cruises plans to launch regular high-end cruise tours, with the first three set to be offered in 2015.

The product will be known as Celebrity Explorations. Travel agents will earn commission on the land portion at the same rate as their cruise commission, said Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity’s senior vice president of sales and trade support and services.

“We are always trying think of things that our travel partners will like and embrace,” Ritzenthaler said, while at the same time being popular with cruise customers.

A cruise tour that combines a three-night stay and city tour in Sydney with a Celebrity Solstice cruise from Australia will kick off the new venture in January.

In August, Celebrity will begin offering a five-night African safari that will end with a cruise on one of several itineraries from Southampton, England.

Finally, in December, Celebrity will begin offering a river/ocean cruise combination that includes a four-night voyage on the Amazon River and a longer Celebrity Infinity cruise in South America.

Ritzenthaler said there will be other cruise tours developed as time goes by. “The strategy is we’ll continue to give our travel partners and guests Celebrity Explorations on an ongoing basis, so it’s not a one-time deal,” she said.

Celebrity earlier this year promoted a five-night African safari with a Black Sea cruise with departures this fall as part of a pilot program for the new offerings.

Cuisine and culture, sample-sized

Posted on 13 August, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

A cruise is a great way to try a lot of things in a short time, and usually not as good for experiencing something in depth.

I was reminded of this on a recent cruise in the Mediterranean aboard the Celebrity Silhouette.

The sampling starts upon boarding in the ship’s buffet, Oceanview Cafe. I made a point of trying the Indian food, something I’m not served at home and rarely eat at a restaurant. A spoon of this, a dollop of that and I was on my way.

For dessert, I choose from several trays of cookies, brownies, ice creams, puddings, cream puffs, cakes, pies and tarts. Most were small, or I could choose the portion size, so I could try two or three at each meal.

The concept goes beyond food. I heard and saw entertainers that I wouldn’t seek out or likely pay for at home, including the Sin City comedy/burlesque show that Celebrity has adapted from Las Vegas.

I’m not well versed in modern art, but over the course of a seven-day cruise I probably spent half an hour looking at and reading about the ship’s collection. It wasn’t like a visit to an art museum, but it may inspire me to go.

I read parts of four books from the ship’s library and finished none of them.

My wife and I made friends with couples from Germany, England and Spain over end-of-the-day drinks, but I don’t think they’ll be lasting relationships.

Nowhere is the sampler concept more evident than in the destinations that we visited. At our favorite port of call, we were in Greece for about six hours. Part of it was consumed by a quick taxi ride across the island to a nice beach, where we spent about two hours.

After a taxi back to the main town, we did a little pre-dinner shopping and sought out a restaurant we’d read about. We only had a little time for exploring after dinner and then it was back to the ship.

We are dying to return, feeling like we could have spent six days, not six hours.

It was a wonderful cruise but, alas, it was not an immersive experience of Greece. However, in addition to two stops in Greece, we visited Italy, Croatia and Turkey in the course of a seven-night trip. It was a great sampler of that part of the world and not easy to do as seamlessly any other way.

Croatia’s new Zadar port welcomes first arrival

Posted on 21 July, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

While it won’t officially open until this autumn, the Gazenica cruise port in Zadar, Croatia has already welcomed its first visitors.

On Friday last week (July 11th), the Celebrity Equinox became the first ship to dock at the new 12-berth facility, on which construction commenced five years ago.

The government of Croatia has spent a total of €143.8 million (£114 million) on the project, Seatrade Insider reports. This includes construction of motorway links that provide access to Zadar Airport and Zagreb.

When the port becomes active, it will be able to accept vessels of any size – though only five berths will serve cruise ships, with the remaining seven reserved for local ferry traffic.

Zadar itself is currently proving popular with cruise operators, having registered almost 70 calls and 35,000 passengers in 2013 – a 70 per cent increase on 2012. It expects to host as many as 100,000 passengers per year by 2015.

Gazenica is set to enter operation in either late September or early October.